Why Me?
by Lorelei Rising
Summary: Heero's asking "Why me?" after he saves the life of and falls in love with a woman who's already taken. Alternate pairing! 6X9 at first...
1. Ah, the things we do for love!

Why Me?  
  
"Zechs you've been abnormally jumpy today," Lucrezia Noin told her friend in concern. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Noin, do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?" The tall blonde's eyes flicked to the tops of the New York skyscrapers. "Like someone is just hell bent on your not seeing another day?"  
  
"All the time." She said wryly. "Just before someone tries to kill me."  
  
"Who would want to kill Noin?" Duo Maxwell snorted. "One of the world's most likeable people-aside from myself of course."  
  
"Come off it Maxwell," Wufei smacked Duo in the back of the head. "The only thing you're good for is giving our position away to every soldier in sight."  
  
Noin laughed at Duo's hurt expression. "Ouch Wufei. That was harsh."  
  
"You just have to know how to handle the baka," Wufei replied smugly. Duo's jaw dropped.  
  
"I'm going back by Yuy," He huffed. "At least he doesn't make fun of me." And matching actions to words, he went back and stood by Heero.  
  
"That boy is definitely a piece of work." Zechs laughed. Noin also smiled, glad to see Zechs back in a good mood.  
  
*  
  
High above them, a dark haired soldier fitted a scope onto the end of a sniper rifle. "If I time this right," He thought, raising the rifle to his shoulder. "I can take out Noin and Merquise at the same time. That'll really put a crimp in Sanq's government. And then all that's left is to take out Relena." He looked down the scope. "Come on Merquise, get just a little closer to your girlfriend, that's right, now walk forward, just a few more feet."  
  
*  
  
"But think about it," Noin was saying over her shoulder to a solemn Heero. "What if OZ would never have been formed? How much different the world would have been!" The Perfect Soldier nodded gravely. Fortunately, the nod brought his head up enough to notice the glint of the sun against the metal of a gun barrel.  
  
"Lucrezia, down!" Heero tackled Noin from behind just as a shot sounded from above. The bullet meant for Noin's head and Zechs's heart ripped through Heero's upper left shoulder. They tumbled to the ground with a breathless thud and were joined a mere second later by Wufei and Zechs.  
  
"What the hell?!" Noin rolled to her knees, gun out and cocked, searching for whom had fired. Zechs also was up and looking, just a moment slower than Noin. "Heero! You alright?"  
  
"Fine," Heero grunted, his firearm clutched tightly in his right hand. "Fan out everyone! The shot came from the above right!" Duo, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre all headed in the prescribed direction. They were down a moment later, herding the would-be assassin at gunpoint. Noin was kneeling beside Heero, pressing at the wound in his shoulder with the torn off sleeve of her dress, trying to stanch the blood.  
  
"So I brought down the wrong man hmmm?" The soldier shrugged. "Oh well, better luck next time."  
  
"He's not dead." Noin ground out from between clenched teeth. "You hit him in the shoulder."  
  
"Well, I'm glad I at least hit someone." The assassin smiled at her. "I really didn't want to have to go to trial and explain why I completely missed everyone. It would have been nice if I would have killed you and Merquise like I was aiming for though."  
  
"I'm sorry to disappoint you." Noin said coolly. The would-be assassin smiled and bowed.  
  
"Not at all miss," He said jauntily as the Gundam Pilots escorted him away. "Next time." Noin sat hard on the blacktop, no longer able to keep up her charade of cool disinterest.  
  
Zechs reached his hand toward Noin. She took it and squeezed hard, her breath starting to come in ragged gasps now that adrenaline was wearing off.  
  
"Noin, you ok?"  
  
"No," She started to shake, ever so slightly, and Zechs pulled her to him, rocking her back and forth as silent tears streamed from her cheeks. She clutched his shoulders hard and buried her face in his chest, trying to get her strained emotions back under control.  
  
Heero Yuy watched the pair with an irrational surge of jealousy. While everyone thought they had him pegged as liking Relena (who was more of a sister to him than anything), only he knew the truth.  
  
He loved Lucrezia Noin.  
  
He had loved her since he saw her on Antarctica for the first time, the day she had shown that she knew the workings of honor and let him fight Zechs. She could have made that whole duel very difficult for both parties involved but she didn't. And after, when Heero had joined the Preventors, her unquestioning acceptance-and later, her seeming enjoyment- of his presence blew him away. He was so used to people hating him for the things he did that his feelings for her merely deepened. Her cheerful temperament, her strength, and her feminine nature (which Noin used at a much better level than Relena. Sometimes Relena was so feminine that it made Heero want to shoot her.) stirred something in him.  
  
That was about the time he learned of her feelings for Zechs.  
  
It came as a huge blow to him. He kicked himself later for not noticing all the signs but he realized how hurt Noin would be if anything ever happened to Zechs. Heero was determined that nothing would ever hurt her. From that day on, he made sure that Zechs as well as Relena was under his protection, though he was very careful not to let Zechs or Lucrezia know that. And since Lucrezia rarely left Zechs's side herself, Heero got to see her more often than usual, which suited him just fine.  
  
"Noin, it's ok. We're ok," Zechs soothed. "We've had assassination attempts before."  
  
"But none of them ever came that close," Noin replied. "If it hadn't have been for Heero." She whirled around. "Heero." But he was gone.  
  
"He's tough Noin," Zechs smiled at her. "I'm sure he's fine."  
  
"I know," She sighed. "He saved our lives, Zechs."  
  
"I know." He replied, taking her hand. "Now, let's get you home ok? You'll feel better after a long, hot bath."  
  
*  
  
Zechs was right; a hot bath did feel pretty good, Noin had to admit as she soaked. A knock at the door rang through the quiet bathroom.  
  
"Come in Zechs." The tall blonde obliged, handing her a cup of tea and keeping one for himself as he sat down on the lowered toilet seat.  
  
"Better?" He asked with a smile. She nodded.  
  
"Much." She sighed. "I'm sorry I lost it back there."  
  
"Well, when someone tries to kill you, it's not exactly a thing you walk away from unscathed." Zechs replied. Noin shrugged.  
  
"You did."  
  
"That's because I'm used to it." He quipped. Zechs saw Noin's pensive frown and he reached down to brush the back of his hand against her cheek. "No one should want to kill you Noin."  
  
"Whatever Zechs." She laughed. "I say the same about you, you know."  
  
He laughed at that too. "It's nice to be loved."  
  
She reached up and took his hand. "I do love you, you know."  
  
"I know." He knelt by the tub and kissed her. "I love you too."  
  
Usually Zechs's kisses had the power to make everything feel all right for her again, but tonight, it wasn't working. She broke away from him with a sigh.  
  
"Noin, what?" Zechs asked with a frown. Noin tipped her head, trying to think of what it was that was making her so unstrung.  
  
It came to her a second later.  
  
"Heero." She got out of the bath with an almighty heave. "I think I should go check on Heero."  
  
"Why, Noin?"  
  
"Something feels off." She replied, slipping through the door to the bedroom, toweling herself off briskly as she went. Zechs followed and pulled the towel away from her.  
  
"You aren't going to have any skin left if you keep that up," He said before patting her dry. She smiled at him, at his tenderness, and hugged him.  
  
"I'll be back soon." She threw on the clothes that she had laid out for herself and, grabbing the first jacket she found she was down the stairs and out the door.  
  
*  
  
Heero made his way carefully, silently, down the alleyway to his home. The bullet from the assassin's gun had passed all the way through his body so the only danger his wound presented him was if it began bleeding again. So it wasn't that he was thinking about.  
  
He pushed the door open with a small, internal sigh. He had prided himself on never needing anyone, so why in the hell couldn't he get her out of his mind? Her touch on his shoulder had been gentle, so gentle, and the emotion in her eyes unmistakable. She had been worried about him.  
  
The thought floored him. Someone was worried about him? But he supposed that wasn't anything new. Duo worried about him, and the rest of the Gundam gang. Relena worried about him but he tried not to think about that. It just made things more complicated.  
  
'Tea,' He decided. 'A cup of tea will make me feel better.'  
  
Making his way to the kitchen, Heero put his entire soldier training into forgetting the one person that made him FORGET he was a soldier. So therefore he wasn't paying attention as he walked through the doorway.  
  
He was soon after.  
  
"Make a move Yuy, and I'll blow your Zero crazed head off." The husky voice was completely unfamiliar to Heero, as was the hand holding the gun to his head. He seethed inwardly at being caught unawares like this, but he kept silent. "You shouldn't have interfered. Noin and Merquise are gonna die whether at Jace's hands or somebody else's. No doubt. You should have just left well enough alone. The girl wasn't worth your life."  
  
"Now there's where you're wrong." Heero said with steel lining his voice. "She's worth my life, your life, and the life of everyone on Earth ten times over."  
  
"Isn't that precious?" The gunman chuckled. "Wittle Heewo's got a girlfriend. It's too bad you won't live to proclaim your love." Heero heard the click of the gun's hammer and he steeled himself for the blow.  
  
BANG!  
  
It took Heero a second to realize that, yes, a gun did go off but no, he wasn't dead. The gunman, however, was.  
  
"Well, there we go." A cheerful voice came from the shadows and Heero froze. "We're one for one."  
  
"Noin?"  
  
"In the flesh." She blew gun-smoke from the barrel of her sidearm with a smile.  
  
"I'm glad to see you Lucrezia." Heero's lips quirked up in a brief return grin. "And I owe you my life."  
  
"Naw, we're even remember?" She stepped over the body of the would-be assassin. Heero noted with faint amusement that she didn't step OVER the body as much as she stepped ON the body, showing her utter contempt for the dead man. "And I am hereby serving you notice that you will be staying where I can keep an eye on you. I.e. the guest room of my house."  
  
Heero paused at that. "Won't Zechs mind?"  
  
"Oh don't you worry about him," Noin winked at Heero. "He'll go along with whatever I say."  
  
"But I don't think."  
  
"Heero Yuy." Noin's voice was faintly admonishing. "I didn't ask what you thought. Now get your stuff together. We're leaving."  
  
Any other woman and Heero would have refused. But Noin? He started upstairs.  
  
Ah, the things we do for love! 


	2. Stalker? I think not!

Chapter Two  
  
"Noin, sometimes your instincts amaze me." Zechs shook his head as Noin, with Heero's help, recounted their story. Minus the part where the assassin twitted Heero about Noin, of course. That Zechs did not need to hear.  
  
"It's strange isn't it?" Noin joked. "Sometimes I think I'm a mind-reader."  
  
"Maybe not that far." Heero said seriously. "Maybe borderline ESP. At any rate, I'm glad you possess such a useful gift."  
  
Noin was surprised. Usually it was like pulling teeth to hold a conversation with Heero but tonight he seemed more than willing to talk. Noin guessed that it was the aftershock of almost being assassinated. Noin was also no stranger to the looks Heero was giving her. They were full of longing, but yet so self-berating and pained that Noin wanted to give him a big hug.  
  
She decided that that probably wouldn't help matters much.  
  
So she walked a fine line, treating Zechs no differently than any other time but not going out of her way to shove the fact that they were lovers in Heero's face. Heero knew she was doing it but had to admit that she walked the line with amazing dexterity. He wondered what was going through that sharp mind of hers, then decided it was probably best if he didn't know.  
  
Heero cursed that assassin with every ounce of his being. He had no intention of ever telling Noin that he wanted her (at least, not unless Zechs was no longer a factor) and definitely not in the way she had found out tonight. He figured that she must be confused as all hell, but she was doing a laudable job of not showing it. She was treating him like this was any other night, that he was just over for a chat and nothing was wrong.  
  
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I am beat." Noin stood and stretched, giving the two men just a glimpse of flesh and muscle before lowering her arms. "And I am going to bed."  
  
"I'll come with you." Zechs took her hand. "Good night Heero."  
  
"Goodnight Zechs, Noin."  
  
"I'm glad to have you with us Heero."  
  
"Thank you Noin." He watched them go up the stairs, laughing and tickling each other, and felt a swift pang that he could never have what Zechs had with her.  
  
It was a pang that could not be suppressed as he tossed and turned in bed that night. A very brash thought came into his head. If he could not be with Noin, at least he could watch over her.  
  
So he slipped out of bed and made his way silently toward her-and Zechs's- room. He pushed the door open without a sound and took his place in the shadows. Noin and Zechs were tangled in each other's arms, clearly naked, and both were sleeping soundly. Heero had always seen Zechs at Preventor HQ's, irritated with everyone and way overworked, so he was surprised to see how peaceful and content the man's face was. He was just as handsome as every one of the female staff at Preventors said he was, and much more.  
  
But Noin! Heero thought he was looking at an angel. He was not a romantic man by nature, but that was the only analogy he could come up with. Noin was one day walking in heaven and accidentally tripped on a cloud or something and fell down to Earth and the only reason she was still here was because God was trying to teach her not to be so clumsy.  
  
' Or she met Zechs and decided to stay.' Heero suddenly shook his head. 'What in the hell am I doing? I'm starting to turn into a stalker.' He stood, too abruptly it seemed, for Noin heard the movement and her eyes shot open. Her muscles tensed, but she did not move, giving Heero time to call out to her.  
  
"Noin, it's ok. It's just me." He said in the lowest possible whisper as he slipped over to her side of the bed and knelt down.  
  
"Heero?" Noin gently disentangled herself from Zechs and turned to face Heero. "Is there something wrong?"  
  
"No I.I just wanted to be sure you were alright."  
  
"Couldn't sleep?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are you ok? Do you want me to make you some tea or something?"  
  
'No, I'm not fine and no it's not tea that I want...' "No, Noin, that's alright. I'm fine. Thank you."  
  
"Alright then," Noin looked at him strangely but nodded. At that moment, Zechs turned and wrapped himself around Noin; her back pressed against his chest as he slipped his arms tightly around her. Heero stiffened but Noin sighed and smiled fondly.  
  
"This one could sleep through the Eve Wars, I swear." She chucked her thumb back at Zechs. "All he knows is that I'm not right next to him anymore, and I don't think his conciousness could extend past that if he wanted it to."  
  
"I envy him." Heero said ironically.  
  
"Yeah, me too." Noin chuckled softly. "I wish I could sleep that hard."  
  
"Well, one of you has to be a light sleeper, just in case."  
  
"Right," Noin looked at him for just a moment before reaching out and tucking a stray piece of his hair behind his ear. Her hand brushed his cheek for the briefest of moments. "Well, try and get some sleep huh?"  
  
"Yeah. Good night.Lucrezia."  
  
"Goodnight Heero. Pleasant dreams. And thank you for your concern."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Heero slipped out as silently as he came. He had barely enough time to close the door before his legs turned to cotton and he slid down the wall, burying his head in his knees. He touched the spot where her hand had grazed his skin, and decided he would seek a cold shower.  
  
Just as soon as he could move. 


	3. Farewell, my Prince

Authoress Note: Hey everyone. I want to thank you all for the great reviews I've gotten! I was kind of worried at how you people would take a Heero/Noin fic, but I guess it wasn't a problem. I got a few questions though, and I'll try to answer them now.  
  
Iron Duke: Noin heard the full exchange but she's in love with Zechs (at the moment). Noin likes Heero, but views him as a good friend (which will change, I promise).  
  
Amscray: Not really. If you consider the fact that they met in Antarctica early in the series, then went through the Mariemaia Wars (about a year) and this fic is set about three years later, he had just about four years to develop these feelings. Good eye though!  
  
EVERYONE WHO SAID NOIN AND ZECHS TOGETHER WAS KIND OF ICKY!: I didn't think so! At least I didn't go into excruciating detail about WHAT they were doing.Besides, don't worry, that's as bad as it's going to get. It isn't an NC-17 fic after all.And I'm very sorry if I offended some tender little ears (lol!). I promise to be good from here on in (well, pretty good.). But anyway and such and so on.  
  
.Chapter 3.  
  
"So, Heero's staying with you, eh?" Duo stretched languidly, almost falling backwards in his chair as Noin wrapped up her version of the night's events. Duo, plus Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Sally, were all lounging in Noin's office to catch up on Noin's "health after the attempt" as Quatre so charmingly put it. "What's Zechs think of that?"  
  
"Oh, he's alright. He trusts my judgement." Noin glanced around the room at the other pilots. "What? Is there something I should know about?"  
  
"Naw," Duo shot her a huge grin before anyone else could reply. "I just thought with the way those two idiots get along..."  
  
"You're a brave woman, Noin," Sally interjected. "I wouldn't try it."  
  
"Oh Sal," Noin punched her playfully on the arm. "Give me a break! They're both intelligent, mature young men! I think they can handle themselves."  
  
"Who's an intelligent, mature young man?" Zechs popped his head in with two steaming cups, one of coffee and one of hot cocoa. He weaved his way through the others, gave the cup of cocoa to Noin, and leaned against the side of her desk. Noin glanced up at him.  
  
"Not you."  
  
"Ouch."  
  
"You're an intelligent, mature old man."  
  
Zechs put his hand to his heart. "And again.ouch."  
  
Sally chuckled. "Well, I'm glad that everyone's alright Noin, but I'd better get going. I have work to do."  
  
Murmurs of agreement all around as the others followed Sally out. Noin tapped the tip of her finger on each knuckle of Zechs's hand, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. "Now that we're alone, intelligent mature young lover of mine, what are you going to do?"  
  
"Say hello properly, I should imagine." Zechs bent down to Noin, who tilted her face up at him in response.  
  
"Before this gets too steamy for my poor, matronly eyes," Lady Une quipped dryly from her spot by the doorway. "Wind, may I borrow you for a moment?"  
  
Zechs's eyes spoke volumes about what he'd like to say (something along the lines of "Get lost!"), but Noin knew he was too polite to voice them. She stifled a chuckle as he straightened up, gathering his hair in his hands and then letting it drop behind his back.  
  
"Of course, Lady. I am yours to command." Noin winked at him, knowing his tone all too well: that subtle sarcasm that had become Zechs's trademark. As Zechs followed Une out, he took a second to turn and flash Noin a quick smile, just a quirk to the edge of his lips that told her he'd make the interruption up to her.  
  
It was those kind of things that Noin loved most about Zechs. It wasn't necessarily the public displays of affection; it was all the little things he did. Like that smile, or the cocoa, or a quick air-kiss on her knuckles when he was too busy to stop for long.  
  
Zechs and Une's meeting didn't last long. "I'm being sent on a mission, Noin."  
  
"What kind of mission?" Zechs didn't appear agitated; his eyes were calm, so Noin wasn't too worried.  
  
"Just a little border dispute thing. Shouldn't take long, a few days, and most of that as transit time."  
  
Noin shrugged. "Alright,"  
  
"Don't you want to hear the catch?"  
  
"You have to leave tonight?"  
  
Zechs nodded. "Absolutely right."  
  
"Damn, cold bed tonight."  
  
"But not for long."  
  
"No, not for long." Noin agreed. "What time are you leaving?"  
  
"Now. I came to say goodbye." Zechs took her hand and pulled her into his embrace. "I'll miss you, Noin."  
  
"I'll miss you too. Be safe. Come back soon."  
  
"I will." Zechs took a step back and swept into a graceful bow. "On my princely code of honor, lest some foul evil befall me."  
  
"Let not a foul evil befall you, my prince." Noin curtseyed, equally graceful, which brought a smile to Zechs's face. "Lest evil find a force stronger than itself in me. Now, kiss me and get moving, before the dragon we named Une manifests itself in mine office."  
  
He did, holding her a moment longer than usual. But then he was gone, with that purposeful stride Noin recognized as his 'king of the world' walk. She sat for a moment, watching the sunbeams flicker on her desk, feeling that slight emptiness that always followed his departures settle over her.  
  
"Am I interrupting anything?" Heero's voice broke through her daydream as he came in, the top of his head just barely visible behind a stack of paperwork.  
  
"Not at all," Noin grinned. "I never thought I'd see the day when great field agent Heero Yuy would be stuck in the office doing paperwork."  
  
"Actually, most of this is yours."  
  
Noin's eyes went wide. "Aren't you just the bearer of good tidings?" She chucked her thumb toward the chair by the door. "Be a friend and help me out, huh?"  
  
Heero wordlessly dragged the chair over, swinging it down across from Noin. His reflexes went into high gear as she tossed him a pen. Heero caught it in the ready-to-write position and plopped down on his seat.  
  
From time to time over the almost two hours they were in the office, Heero caught himself glancing up at Noin who had her head bent studiously over her share of the paperwork. He tried to shrug it off, go back to work, but the sun was setting and the red and gold tones streaming in through the bay window complemented her skin tone perfectly. It also turned her hair an interesting- and immensely attractive, in Heero's eyes- shade of reddish purple.  
  
Suddenly, she stretched and caught his eyes. He quickly looked back down, but she tapped her pencil on his paper, right under his nose. "Need a break?"  
  
"Don't need one. You can take one though."  
  
"Come with me. We'll grab some dinner down the street. I hate eating alone."  
  
"Hm," Heero stood, shuffling his papers into a neat pile before replying, ".Ok."  
  
"Great!" Noin slapped her hands on her thighs and stood also "What're you hungry for?"  
  
"Food."  
  
Noin sighed. "Why did I think that I was going to get a straight answer out of Heero Yuy?"  
  
"Don't know."  
  
"Right! Pizza it is then." 


End file.
